Credit Suisse considers brave new products

CreditSuisse Asset Managementcould be headed for a dramatic revamp of its product line-up, if it pushes ahead with plans to launch a range of new offerings.

The group’s head of distribution, Brian Thomas, revealed plans for the new product line-up last week, when he said the investment industry in Australia had to face up to a brave new world where a high concentration on risk was a key priority.

While plans for the new product set are still embryonic, Thomas says the group is considering adding hedge funds, funds with flexible currency management options, income oriented funds and style neutral products to its list of offerings.

The group, according to Thomas, is also undertaking a series of enhancements to its existing funds, including a new trail commission rebate system.

The new feature will allow Credit Suisse to pay trails directly back to advisers’ clients. Thomas says advisers who wanted to rebate trail commissions back to their clients were often hampered by having to handle the process through their own practice.

The Swiss owned fund manager is also preparing to release the third and final instalment of its ‘Hypercompetition’ series of discussion papers.

The paper, to be released next month, will concentrate on how financial planning practices are being valued in the current dour investment environment.

“The price [of financial planning businesses] has really come back dramatically, and it is really something that is evident around the world,” he says.

The first Hypercompetition paper detailed the heightened levels of competition in the local financial services sector, while the second paper focused heavily on the remuneration of financial advisers.